Out in the Pouring Rain
by Dreams and Wishes
Summary: Tumnus will wait for Lucy he'll wait for as long as it takes for her heart to warm to him. Written for the 100 songs challenge.


The rain slammed down on the windows of Cair Paravel with a fury unlike one that Lucy had ever seen in her eleven years in Narnia. Her face was currently pressed up against the glass, fogging up the glass with her breath. Inside, her room was muggy and uncomfortable, the typical spring weather that she had begun to expect. It was sort of like back in London, only with a bit less fog.

Sighing, she pulled her scrunched-up face away from the glass and simply stared off into space. Susan had come in a bit earlier to bring her a book, but it just lay unopened on the table. As for Edmund and Peter, they were both off doing kingly things. Magnificent things. Just things. And she was stuck back at the castle, in the rain. What was she doing that might even be considered valiant?

Absolutely nothing, of course. Except sitting around and wasting her day.

With another heaving sigh, she dragged herself out of her chair and picked up Susan's book. She was just about to open it when there was a knock at the door, to which she quickly replied that the visitor should enter. The book was quickly replaced to its spot on the table, almost making it look as though she'd never even touched it.

"Luce, Mr. Tumnus is here to see you." Susan said, cracking open the door just enough to peek her head in. "I think he's gotten worried about you. It's been such a long time since you've been over to his place for tea. Or for anything, for that matter. And you know how that faun worries about you."

She simply shrugged, knowing that she would have to face him sooner or later. The past few months had been strange between them, probably due to the fact that they both knew that she wasn't a little girl anymore. She was such a different person from that innocent seven year old who stumbled through the wardrobe, and they both knew it.

"Tell him I'll be right down." She replied, standing up and reaching for her cloak. Susan nodded and quickly left, no doubt to reassure the faun with a cup of tea while he waited. But five minutes quickly turned into ten, which turned into twenty. Lucy still didn't budge from her spot by the window, torn between not wanting to see her old friend and running downstairs and leaping into his arms.

Susan tried to keep him distracted for as long as possible- she knew that Lucy would come around, if she was just given a bit of time. But once an hour had passed, it was hard to avoid the truth. All the tea was gone and they had finally run out of things to talk about, no matter how hard she tried to come up with topics to keep him there for just a few moments longer. His hand gradually began to reach for his old umbrella, eyes darting to the door as though he knew it was time to leave.

"It's been excellent, Susan. Really lovely talking to you." He said, standing up and listening his hooves to clack on the stone floor. "You will give my regards to Lucy, won't you?"

"Of course. I'm sorry she couldn't come down today." She replied, angry at herself for making excuses for Lucy once again. "Will you be back here again soon?" She already knew the answer to that- of course he would be back. He would never give up on her.

"I will." He replied simply, gripping his umbrella with one hand. His actions were predictable and carefully calculated as they both walked over to the door in silence, as though both of them trying to figure out what the other one was thinking. But then he did something that Susan didn't expect- he leaned in close to whisper in her ear.

"I love her, you know?" He said softly, his whiskers tickling the side of her cheek. "I've always loved her, and I always will love her. Until the day this whole world comes to an end, I will love her. And I'll wait for her. I'll wait for her as long as she wants me to wait, because I know I'll never meet someone else quite like her."

The rain poured down in buckets as the door was opened and his umbrella was snapped into place as Susan struggled to comprehend something that she'd known all along.

"Goodbye, Susan." Mr. Tumnus said with a small nod. "I'll be here again tomorrow, same time."

She slowly closed the door with a soft click as the faun walked away, then proceeded to climb up the stairs and go into Lucy's room. This time, she did not knock. And she didn't say anything. All she did was come up behind her sister and wrap her arms gently around her neck as the pair glanced through the window and into the bleak rainstorm.

There was a figure that could be seen, even through the rain. He was standing right outside Lucy's window and looking up at her, just as she was standing inside and peering down at him through the glass. Slowly, and with great care, Lucy found her finger tracing the shape of a heart in the steam that had gathered on the glass. And Susan found herself smiling, because she knew that some things just needed a little time to grow.


End file.
